Twin cylinder engine

ABSTRACT

A twin cylinder engine has a common combustion chamber external to said cylinders and in communication with the upper portions of each cylinder above the pistons. Air is supplied to each cylinder from a single source below the pistons and also into the combustion chamber through a nozzle. Exhaust is through a valved port at the top of each cylinder and warm water is injected into each cylinder adjacent the inlet from the combustion chamber. Appropriate valve means are provided in the passageways for air and in the line from the combustion chamber to each cylinder.

United States Patent Koderman Aug. 26, 1975 [54] TWIN CYLINDER ENGINE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS lnvemorl Ivan Kodeflpan, Nadgorica/Jeza 95, 142,051 4/1920 United Kingdom 60/3963 61231 Lubhana, Crnuce, 448,649 5/1948 Canada 60/39.6 Yugoslavia [22] Filed: APR 9 1974 Primary Examiner-Clarence R. Gordon Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Dennison, Dennison, [21] Appl. No: 459, Townshend & Meserole [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Aug 14 1973 Yugoslavia 2204 73 A cylinder engine has a common combustion f chamber external to said cylinders and in communica- 52 us. Cl. 60/39.63 with the upper Porthms of each Cylinder above [5 1] Int -g h FOZG 3/02 the pistons. Air is supplied to each cylinder from a sin- 58 Field 61 search..."1131160/3963 39.6 39.61 gle some helm the Pistons and the combus- 6 tion chamberthrough a nozzle. Exhaust is through a valved portat'the top of each cylinder and warm [56] References Cited water is injected into each cylinder adjacent the inlet from the combustion chamber. Appropriate valve UNITED STATES PATENTS means are provided in the passageways for air and in l v gzz the line from the combustion chamber to each cylin c d 2,140,085 12/1938 Maina 60/3963 X er 2,688,230 9/1954 Milliken 60/3963 1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED AUG 2 6 I975 SHEET 1 UF 5 TWIN CYLINDER ENGINE This invention concerns a twin cylinder engine, particularly an engine without spark plugs and a connecting rod moving in a straight line fashion.

Engines, i.e. conventional internal combustion engines with connecting rods moving in a straight line, are well known. Since the connecting rod is moving in a straight line the pistons of these well known engines are not exposed to transverse forces, but all the other shortcomings of this type of engine still persist, i.e., the equipment for the ignition of the air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber, the thermal destruction of the oil film on the sliding areas, the intrusion of the hot gases into the crank shaft housing and their contact with the other oil. Other negative properties of the well known internal combustion engine are its need for additives in the fuel causing air pollution when burning to ensure sufficient compression without automatic ignition; furthermore, carbon monoxide gases are generated as the result of insufficiently burning the fuel. The thermal efficiency is not satisfactory; these well known engines require additional cooling to remove the generated heat which in turn has no practical value and does not contribute to the power of the engine.

Equally, the ratio between the engines weight or size, respectively, and its power is unfavorable. However, the well known internal combustion engine has certain advantages compared with the well known rotary engine, e.g. easier manufacturing, less wear on gaskets and sliding surfaces of the piston and greater elasticity of the engine.

All these facts led to the design of an engine that is not subjected to these shortcomings or largely avoids them.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a twin cylinder engine using a connecting rod with straight line movement, and which does not need any spark plugs, avoiding or widely reducing the intrusion of the hot gases into the lubricating oil and the burning of the oil film on the sliding areas; an engine that is driven by a fuel without any additives poisonous to the environment, that burns the fuel as closely to 100% as possible and additionally uses the generated heat to increase its efficiency. The engine is simple, enduring and elastic and the ratio between its weight or size, respectively, and its power is more favorable than the prior art internal combustion engines.

To meet the previously stated requirements a twin cylinder engine has been invented comprising a first cylinder with an air intake with a first valve and a connection pipe for the air with a second valve connected to the lower part of this first cylinder, a second intake for the expansion gas with a third valve and a first exhaust pipe with a fourth valve connected to the upper part of this first cylinder; a second cylinder where the connection pipe for the air, containing an additional valve, is connected to the lower part and a third intake for the expansion gas with a fifth valve and a second exhaust pipe with a sixth valve that are connected to the upper part of this second cylinder, whereby the connecting rods are firmly attached to the pistons and the second and third intake for the expansion gas are connected to a common combustion chamber. This chamber contains at one end a nozzle of a delivery pipe for the air; this delivery pipe is connected to the lower part of the second cylinder by a seventh valve.

Fuel without any additives can be used to drive this new type of engine. Due to the high speed of the engine the power is relatively high despite its small size or weight, respectively.

A gear drive converting the straight line movement of the connecting rods into a rotation is a part of the specified engine. However, this gear drive is not the subject of this application. US. Pat. No. 3,886,805 contains a description of this gear drive.

The following specification comprises a description of'a prototype of the engine according to the invention.

In the drawings, FIGS. 1 through 8 show cross sections of the twin cylinder engine for each of the different working cycles of both cylinders; and

FIG. 9 shows the schematic connection of two engines to a four cylinder aggregate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 8, the longitudinal axis of cylinders 1 and 2 is displaced by a angle. This is a requirement when using the gear drive mentioned previously (as will be apparent later herein), however it is not a basic requirement for the functioning of the engine. An intake pipe 3 for the air with a butterfly valve 4 and a connection pipe 5 for the air with a butterfly valve 6 are connected to the lower part of the first cylinder 1. An exhaust pipe 7 with a valve 8, and an intake 9 for the expansion gas that can be closed by a poppet valve 10 are connected to the upper part of cylinder 1.

The connection pipe 5 for the air is connected to the lower part of the cylinder; its opening can be cut off by a valve 11. A delivery pipe 12 for the air with a valve 13, whose jet nozzle 14 extends into a combustion chamber 15, is mounted on the same level as the connection pipe 5 for the air to the lower part of cylinder 2. Connected to the upper part of cylinder 2 are an exhaust pipe 16 with a valve 17 and an intake 18 for the expansion gas controlled by a poppet valve 19. Both of the intake pipes 9 and 18 for the expansion gas are connected to the combustion chamber 15; the fuel line 20 is also connected to this chamber near the nozzle 14. There are two jet nozzles 21, 22 for the warm water inlets close to the valves 10 and 19 in the upper part of the cylinders 1 and 2.

A piston 23 with a connecting rod 24 is contained in cylinder 1 and a piston 25 with the connecting rod 26 is contained in cylinder 2. The diameter of the connecting rod 24 is smaller than the diameter of the connecting rod 26. The-relative position of the pistons 23 and 25 is such that piston 23 leads piston 25 by half a stroke, i.e., when piston 25 is in its bottom dead center position, piston 23 will be in the middle between the dead centers and moving towards the top.

As it is shown in the figures, the entry section of the connecting rods 24, 26 into the lower part of the cylinders l, 2 is effectively sealed, thus allowing the pistons to compress the air in these chambers when the pistons 24 or 26, respectively, move toward the bottom dead centers.

The function of the different cycles of the new twin cylinder engine is shown in FIGS. 1 through 8. FIG. 1 shows the piston 23 of cylinder 1 in a midposition between the bottom and top dead center moving towards the top dead center. Thus, the piston 23 sucks the air through the air intake 3 into the lower part of the cylinder and simultaneously blows the expanded gas out of the upper part of the cylinder through the exhaust pipe 7. Valves 4 and 8 are open, but valves 6 and 10 are closed.

The piston 25 of cylinder 2 just passed through its bottom dead center and the valve 11 was just opened, thus the pressure of the remaining air in the lower part of cylinder 2 and the pressure in the connection pipe 5 for the air are now equal. At the same time the valve 13 for the air delivery pipe 12 was closed. The valve 17 in the exhaust pipe 16 was also opened when the piston 25 passed through its bottom dead center. When the piston 25 passed through its bottom dead center, the valves 4 and 8 remained open while the valves 6, l0 and 19 remained closed.

FIG. 2 shows the state when the piston 25 of cylinder 2 moved toward its top dead center to a degree that the air pressure in the lower part of the cylinder 2 and in the connection pipe 5 for the air is equivalent to the pressure in the lower part of cylinder 1. At this point, valve 6 opens.

FIG. 3 shows the piston 23 in cylinder 1 shortly before reaching its top dead center. Now the valve 10 of the intake pipe 9 for the expansion gas is opened; the hot gas then starts intruding into the upper part of the cylinder 1 and simultaneously warm water is injected through the jet nozzle 21. The piston 25 in cylinder 2 still moves further toward its top dead center, thus pushing out the exhaust gas through the open valve 17 into the exhaust pipe 16.

FIG. 4 shows the piston 23 in cylinder 1 when it has just passed its top dead center and has begun its working cycle. Warm water is still injected through the jet nozzle 21 into the upper part of cylinder 1 causing an enormous expansion of the gas in this zone. The gas pushes the piston 23 towards its bottom dead center; the connecting rod 24 extends this straight line movement to the gear drive, not shown, which converts it into a rotation. Valve 4 was closed after the piston 23 passed through its top dead center, thus pushing the air in the lower part of cylinder 1 through the connection pipe 5 for the air into the lower part of cylinder 2; piston 25 is still pushing out the exhaust gas. Because of the different diameters of the connecting rods 24 and 26, an overpressure is built up in both lower parts of the cylinders 1 and 2 connected by connection pipe 5 for the air (valves 6 and 11 are both opened).

FIG. 5 shows the continuation of the work cycle of cylinder 1. The injection of warm water into the upper part of the cylinder through the jet nozzle 21 is stopped and the valve 10 of the intake pipe 9 for the expansion gas is closed. The air compression in both lower parts of the cylinders still builds up and piston 25 in cylinder 2, now approaching its top dead center, continues pushing out the expanded gas into the exhaust pipe.

FIG. 6 shows the piston 25 in cylinder 2 shortly before passing through its top dead center. In this instant the valve 17 of the exhaust pipe 16 is closed, the valve 19 of the intake 18 for the expansion gas is opened and at the same time warm water is injected through the jet nozzle 22 into the upper part of the cylinder 2. This marks the start of the working cycle of cylinder 2. The working cycle of cylinder 2 lags the working cycle of cylinder 1 by half a stroke; the air compression in the lower parts of the cylinders 1 and 2 and in the connection pipe 5 for the air is still increasing.

FIG. 7 shows the working cycle of cylinder 2 just after the piston 25 has passed through its top dead center and is moving towards the midpoint of its stroke.

After passing the top dead center the valve 19 of the intake pipe 18 for the expansion gas has closed, and, as shown in FIG. 7, no more warm water is injected into the upper part of the cylinder 2. The mixture of hot gas and the warm water now expands in the upper part of cylinder 2 and pushes the piston 25 towards its bottom dead center. The resulting straight line force acts on the gear drive (not shown) through the connecting rod 26. The air in both lower parts of the cylinders 1 and 2 and in connection pipe 5 is still being compressed.

FIG. 8 shows the state of the engine when the piston 23 has just passed through its bottom dead center. At this moment the valves 6 and 11 in the connection pipe 5 are closed, valve 4 in the air intake, valve 13 in the delivery pipe 14 for the air and valve 8 in the exhaust pipe 7 of cylinder 1 are opened. In this instant the compressed air in the lower part of cylinder 2 is released through the delivery pipe 12 and its nozzle 14. In the combustion chamber 15, the compressed air is mixed with the fuel from fuel line 20; this air-fuel mixture is burned in the combustion chamber 15 to produce the expansion gas. The upward movement of piston 23 sucks in the air through the air intake 3, while the expanded gas in the upper part of cylinder 1 is blown out through the exhaust pipe 7. At the same time the expansion of the gas in the upper part of cylinder 2 still continues.

Despite the intermittent air flow into the delivery pipe 12, a rather smooth air flow through the nozzle 14 is obtained due to the compressibility of the air and the high speed of the engine (up to 25,000 rpm). In the combustion chamber 15 and more so in the intake pipes 9 and 18 for the expansion gas, a uniform overpressure is built up causing the expansion gas to flow evenly into the upper parts of the cylinders 1 or 2 whenever the valves 10 or 19 are opened. Since there are no moving parts in the combustion chamber 15, an extremely high temperature can be obtained by choosing an optimum ratio between the air and fuel, which in turn ensures the complete burning of the fuel, thus reducing the noxious exhaust gases to a minimum, which is one of the goals of the invention. Because there are no cooling problems for the valves 10 and 19 or the pistons 23 and 25, when leading the hot gases into the upper part of the cylinders the method of injecting warm water through the jet nozzles 21 and 22 is employed, thus cooling the previously mentioned valves 10 and 19 or the pistons 23 and 25, and, moreover, the vaporization of the warm water generates additional power.

With respect to a practical application of the described twin cylinder engine with connecting rods 24 and 26 in a straight line and where one of the pistons leads the other one by half the length of a stroke, it proves suitable to connect two of these twin cylinder engines with the previously mentioned gear drive to form a driving aggregate. This case is shown schematically in FIG. 9 including all connections of the separate intakes for the air and the expansion gas, as well as the exhaust pipes; the equivalent elements of the second motor are designated by primes.

Thus FIG. 9 indicates first that only one single combustion chamber 15 with one nozzle 14 for the air is necessary, and second it is shown that the different pipes with the same function are of equivalent length.

In this prototype, as shown in the figures and explained above, the auxiliary equipment necessary for the proper functioning of this twin cylinder engine, e.g., the control mechanism for the valves, fuel and water pumps, etc. are not explicitly shown. This equipment is designed conventionally and imposes no additional problems to a professional mechanic.

I claim:

1. A twin cylinder engine comprising a first cylinder and a second cylinder, a piston reciprocable in each of said cylinders, a connecting rod secured rigidly to each piston therebelow, the connecting rod for the piston in the first cylinder being of smaller diameter than the connecting rod for the piston in the second cylinder, the upper sides of the pistons being generally equal, sealing means slidably engaging each connecting rod where it emerges from said cylinders, a first air intake connected to the first cylinder below said piston, valve means in said first air intake, connecting conduit means communicating the first and second cylinders below said pistons, second valve means in said conduit means adjacent the first cylinder, a common combustion chamber external of said cylinders, an expansion gas conduit for each of said cylinders communicating with said combustion chamber and with each of said cylinders above said pistons, expansion gas valves in each of said expansion gas conduits adjacent the cylinders, an exhaust pipe having valve means therein in communication with each cylinder above said pistons, air nozzle means in said combustion chamber, said nozzle means being connected by an air line to the second cylinder below said piston, additional valve means in said air line, means to supply fuel to said combustion chamber and jet nozzle means for supplying warm water into each of said cylinders above the pistons adjacent the expansion gas valves. 

1. A twin cylinder engine comprising a first cylinder and a second cylinder, a piston reciprocable in each of said cylinders, a connecting rod secured rigidly to each piston therebelow, the connecting rod for the piston in the first cylinder being of smaller diameter than the connecting rod for the piston in the second cylinder, the upper sides of the pistons being generally equal, sealing means slidably engaging each connecting rod where it emerges from said cylinders, a first air intake connected to the first cylinder below said piston, valve means in said first air intake, connecting conduit means communicating the first and second cylinders below said pistons, second valve means iN said conduit means adjacent the first cylinder, a common combustion chamber external of said cylinders, an expansion gas conduit for each of said cylinders communicating with said combustion chamber and with each of said cylinders above said pistons, expansion gas valves in each of said expansion gas conduits adjacent the cylinders, an exhaust pipe having valve means therein in communication with each cylinder above said pistons, air nozzle means in said combustion chamber, said nozzle means being connected by an air line to the second cylinder below said piston, additional valve means in said air line, means to supply fuel to said combustion chamber and jet nozzle means for supplying warm water into each of said cylinders above the pistons adjacent the expansion gas valves. 